Office lockers and beyond: workspace storage solutions in a hybrid world

With a shift to hybrid working practices, office storage is being reimagined to meet the needs of a highly mobile, flexible, and collaborative workforce. Here’s how a new breed of smart storage solutions are creating more seamless and satisfying workplace experiences.

Smart storage is here - supporting a nomadic workforce

In a hybrid world workers may no longer 'own' desks, cabinets, or drawers, but they still need somewhere to store belongings and feel at home.

Smart lockers allow mobile workers to settle into spaces more quickly, giving them a place where they can safely stow away their personal devices, bags, coats and afterwork wear.

More than this, they can help us feel like we have a physical stake in the office and give us an opportunity to ‘clear the decks’ ready to focus, properly, on that day’s tasks.

But the growing challenge is to incorporate these solutions seamlessly and stylishly into high-end spaces.

HotLocker by Spacestor

Secure, stylish and space-efficient storage is possible

For employers, supporting workers with all the facilities they need in the most space-efficient way possible is a major challenge. 

From offering changing rooms and bike storage for commuting cyclists, to helping nomadic teams set up camp wherever they need to; office designers are grappling to accommodate the shifting requirements of of modern work workers.

But across the office canny designers are finding ways to minimise redundancy and turn potentially dead storage areas into welcoming spaces. They are finding ways to reimagine lockers and storage zones as functional boundaries and social hubs in their own right.

As with most things in the modern office, a joined up approach to workplace design and technology is helping lead the charge.

Smart lockers help organisations manage use and redundancy

Research shows that traditional locker setups (1:1 user-to-locker ratio) are inefficient in hybrid workplaces. Smart systems enable:

• Dynamic allocation based on need
• Auto-release after each use
• Shared use among rotating teams

One study by Your Workspace, found

"Space management through smart lockers can reduce required locker volumes by 35–50%".

What should you look for in your smart locker package?

Key features:

• Access control: RFID cards, PIN codes, and mobile apps
• Digital interfaces: Touchscreens and phone apps for self-service
• Cloud management: Admins monitor usage, assign lockers, and set access expiries remotely
• Security alerts: Notifications for assignments, access, or tampering

These systems reduce key loss, automate locker turnover, and improve the user experience.

Simplicty Smart Lockers from Your Workspace

When lockers don’t waste space

Modern lockers are a far cry away from the immovable, beaten up metal boxes of the football changing room.

Banks of lockers and storage units can be used as design features in their own right.

Available in different lengths and heights using different materiality and vibrant finishes, they can be used to define ‘neighbourhoods’ in busy offices. They can create meeting spaces, team zones or demarcate spaces for rejuvenation and relaxation. They can be surfaces for biophilic decoration.

WorkValet^TM Office Lockers by Steelcase

Choosing the right locker for your workspace needs

Here we explore a range of locker solutions designed to support the evolving needs of modern workspaces — from mobile teams to anchored employees, and from discreet storage to bold design statements.

Frem Group: Integrating social features into locker walls

Seating Nooks

• Upholstered, lit seating areas built into locker runs
• Support impromptu meetings or quiet moments
• Add warmth and character to corridors or common areas

Booth by Spacestor

Pods and Booths

• Oasis Acoustic Pods can be integrated into locker walls
• Provide private workspaces close to personal storage hubs
• Use space efficiently while maintaining visual harmony

Oasis Acoustic Booths by Frem Group 

Zoning with storage: Spacestor’s Signature Storagewall

Spacecestor’s striking designs can bring character and energy to your zoning strategy

• Modular, reconfigurable system for zoning
• Locker modules can be added over time
• Utilises full height for efficient storage
• Whiteboard locker fronts make maximum use of space

Spacestor’s Signature Storagewall

Volum Art Lockers - aesthetic, smart storage

Blending premium aesthetics with practical storage, Volum Art Lockers are ideal for anchored workers and hybrid teams alike. With modular configurations, multiple height options, and add-ons like planters and bookshelves, they offer a refined look that can either integrate discreetly into office design or stand out as a statement feature.

Volum Art Lockers by Steelcase

Steelcase Active Frames Collection

Steelcase’s active frames collection can be configured and reconfigured at will, with doors added to shelving units to turn them into lockable storage units.

Flex Active Frames by Steelcase

Meanwhile, waist high units can operate as extra surfaces for space-strapped businesses to gather round and use as work tops.

Space-saving lockers for workspace changing rooms

Employees want workplaces that match their lifestyles.  Give cyclists and gym-goers the secure lockers they need to stow gym kit and workclothes, with space saving Z-shaped lockers and shoe compartments. 

Changing Room Lockers by Your Workspace

Bicycle storage: a growing need

Encouraging cycling by offering secure bike storage can support wellbeing and sustainability goals, while cutting down on external, car parking needs.

Two-tier Bike Storage by Turvec

When storage is a moveable feast

We might generate less paper work in the modern workplace and need less permanent storage as a result, but this has been replaced by a need to transport equipment and temporarily ‘set up camp’ in places around the office.  

In the hybrid workplace employees need to pull together collaboration spaces at will, and they need materials and resources ready and waiting for them when they do so.

Steelcase Flex Carts

Steelcase Flex Carts helps you store and transport bulky equipment like Whiteboards and technical accessories quickly and easily around the workspace.

Steelcase Flex Collection

Multi-functional office storage from Steelcase

Mobile lockers and cupboards with whiteboards/textile finish can give teams surfaces to write on and pin materials, while providing storage space  within them (or on the reverse side).

Freestanding Screen by Steelcase

The Steelcase Flex Collection also features mobile white boards and digital displays that can be quickly deployed to create makeshift collaboration hubs.

These come with cupboards and cubby holes which can be stocked with marker pens, note books and other stationery - as well as tablets and portable power units to meet the needs of a nomadic but 'always on ’ workforce.

Steelcase Flex Collection

Elsewhere, the inside of moveable acoustic screens are ideal places for collaborating workers to hang up bags and coats and keep them safe.  Mobile cloak rooms that move with us.

How we can help

At Insightful Environments, we help businesses design storage solutions that go beyond function — supporting flexibility, mobility and a sense of belonging in the hybrid workplace.  Whether you're looking to integrate smart lockers that double as design features, or need mobile storage that moves with your teams, we’ll help you find the right fit for your people, your space, and your future ways of working.

Let’s make your workspace work harder.  Visit the Insightful Environments website to download our Space and Storage Ideas Book or get in touch with us today.

Editors note: This post was originally published in 2021, and updated in April 2025 for relevance and accuracy.